\WARNER ROBINS, Ga. (AP) — State officials have begun buying out homes in middle Georgia feared to be too close to Robins Air Force Base.

The Macon Telegraph reports the state Department of Natural Resources has closed on five homes since getting approval to buy properties last month. Daniel Brown, a DNR business operations specialist, says the agency is seeking the go-ahead to buy up to 19 more.

Federal, state and local governments are putting up nearly $30 million to buyout homeowners living in areas most affected by noise or deemed at risk of being hit by crashing planes. Many properties are roughly in line with the end of the base's main runway.

Local authorities are also conducting buyouts and have a head start on the state, having closed on 179 total properties.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Florida-based operator of casino cruise ships is gambling that it can make a profit off Savannah tourists.

The Savannah Morning News reports Tradewinds Cruise Lines of Madeira Beach, Florida, plans its maiden voyage from Savannah in early June. The company has a 425-passenger, 200-foot casino boat that will take passengers out to sea where they can gamble legally in international waters.

Other casino cruise companies haven't had much luck in the Savannah market in the past. One casino boat operator was indicted in 2012 on charges that it allowed illegal gambling in state waters of Georgia and South Carolina.

Roger Humphreys, Tradewinds vice president for operations in Savannah, says the company's market research shows coastal Georgia will be "a great area" to expand its business.

STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. (AP) — Animal control officials are ordering a quarantine of outdoor pets in a metro Atlanta neighborhood where a rabid fox attacked two residents.

WSB-TV reports a sign informing residents of the quarantine went Monday up at the Golden Acres subdivision in Henry County. Vince Farah, rabies control officer for Henry County, says all outdoor pets must have their rabies vaccinations renewed and must be kept in an enclosure and monitored for 45 days.

A fox attacked a man and a woman in the neighborhood last week before the man killed it with a rake. The fox tested positive for rabies and both people who got bitten were treated with vaccine. Farah says at least three pets in the county are known to have been bitten by an infected fox.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Authorities are investigating an overnight fire at a motel that killed one person in Athens.

Firefighters were called to the America's Best Inn on Atlanta Highway at about 12:50 a.m. Monday. Authorities say the blaze killed one woman, but all other motel guests and employees evacuated safely.

Athens-Clarke County Fire Chief Jeff Scarbrough told the Athens-Banner Herald that firefighters contained the flames to a single room where the dead woman was found. Coroner Sonny Wilson said he couldn't identify the victim immediately, saying any form of identification she had in the room would have burned.

Athens-Clarke County police remained on the scene at daybreak Monday after the fire was extinguished. Investigators could not immediately say what caused the fire or if any foul play was suspected.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia Ports Authority will spend $86.5 million to add 24 cranes for moving cargo containers at the Port of Savannah.

Port authority board members approved the purchase Monday. It includes four new ship-to-shore cranes used to lift containers on and off cargo ships. The remaining 20 cranes will be used to transport cargo within the port's busy Garden City terminal.

Curtis Foltz, executive director of Georgia's ports, said the new cranes will let Savannah accommodate larger ships and provide faster service. They are expected to arrive in February 2016.

Georgia officials are pushing Washington to begin before the end of this year a $652 million expansion of the Savannah harbor that would make room for larger cargo ships. Savannah has the fourth-busiest container port in the U.S.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.

2 women shot dead at metro Atlanta apartments

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — Police say two women have been found shot to death outside a metro Atlanta apartment complex.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports DeKalb County police were called to the Walden Pond complex after someone found one of the victims at about 6 a.m. Monday.

Police Capt. Stephen Fore says both women appear to be in their 20s and were found "very nearby" one another. He said police don't know what motivated the shootings or how the two women may be connected.

Fore says a witness has reported hearing gunshots overnight, but the bodies weren't found until somebody saw one of the victims and called police.

Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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